Bonhams - Voices of 20th Century Auction Analysis

Well, I guess that voices of history are not that popular for today’s collectors – voices of 20th century, at least. On Tuesday, June 16, at Bonhams New York was held the auction called Voices of 20th Century and it was not that successful. Collectors didn’t find letters, books, photographs, documents and pieces of history that shaped 20th century much interesting, and, more importantly, they didn’t find them worth of buying, as just half of lots were sold.

There was a plenty of things to choose at Voices of 20th Century at Bonhams New York: The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald, a manuscript by Albert Camus, Albert Einstein’s letters, the first home pregnancy test, photographs of Howard Hughes’ airplanes, a motion picture film of Apollo 11 flight and Moonlanding, with Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the Moon, Russian propaganda posters, Theodore Roosevelt’s letters, quotations from Mao Tse-Tung’s Little red book… It just didn’t draw that much of an attention.

The Overview of Voices of 20th Century at Bonhams

Just 83 out of 159 lots were sold at Bonhams New York on June 16. The sale of Voices of 20th Century gathered just over half a million of dollars ($566,720), which was in range of estimated values for the sum of sold lots, but was way bellow the projected estimated value of the auction ($1,039,100 – $1,539,400). Nineteen lots were sold over high estimate (22.9 percent), 25 lots in range of estimated values (30.1 percent), while most of lots were sold under low estimate (39, or 47 percent). The first edition of The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald (with the author’s autograph and inscription “For Harold Goldman, the original ‘Gatsby’ of this story”) had the highest hammer price of the auction with $155,000, and was followed by Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung, that was sold for $55,000 (all without buyer’s premium).

The average hammer price was $6,828, and the most successful lots of the auction, besides those which had highest hammer prices, were Albert Einstein’s visit card that tripled its high estimate, the collection of artwork and letters by Raymond Chandler, and Thelonious Monk’s signed musical manuscript Monk’s Mood, that doubled its high estimate.

Fitzgerald, Francis Scott Key – The Great Gatsby, 1925 (detail)Left: Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse-Tung. Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1966 (Lot 21). Estimated at $20,000 – $30,000, sold for $55,000 (second highest hammer price of the auction). This lot was sold with +83.3 percent margin between hammer price and high estimate. Signed by Chairman Mao alongside his portrait. It is estimated that 5 billion copies of the Little Red Book were printed by the close of the 20th Century, but just a handful were actually signed by Mao. The present volume derives from the only occasion we are aware of in which Mao signed multiple copies of this iconic book. According to documents included in the lot, the volume was signed on the afternoon of July 2nd, 1967. This was towards the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, and Mao had agreed to be interviewed by the editor of the leftist New Zealand weekly People’s Voice. On this occasion he signed 6 copies of the Little Red Book in the presence of the recipients using a fountain pen which was handed to him by one of the delegates. The recipient of the present copy was the interpreter for that group. Two other copies from the People’s Voice delegation have also appeared for public sale: one from Patrick Joseph Kelly, the chairman of the Wellington District Communist Party (Christie’s, Dec 2, 2003, lot 89) and one from Jan McLeod, the editor’s daughter (Christie’s, Nov 16, 2001, lot 65). No other signed copies of the Little Red Book appear in the auction records of ABPC or Rare Book Hub. / Right: Fitzgerald, Francis Scott Key – The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1925. (Lot 100A). Estimated at $30,000 – $50,000, sold for low estimate. Original dark green cloth stamped in blind and gilt; dust jacket designed by Francis Cugat. The volume is second issue. “Francis Cugat’s jacket design for The Great Gatsby is perhaps the most famous and intriguing in American literature, as critics have argued over the meaning of Fitzgerald’s plea to [Maxwell] Perkins in an August 1924 letter, ‘For Christ’s sake don’t give anyone that jacket you’re saving for me. I’ve written it into the book.’ Fitzgerald’s comment has not been fully explained, although it may refer to Nick Carraway’s statement in Chap. 4: ‘Unlike Gatsby and Tom Buchanan, I had no girl whose disembodied face floated along the dark cornicesand blinding signs…'” (Mary Sidney Watson, in F. Scott Fitzgerald Centenary Exhibition, USC, 1996).Left: Gandhi, Mohandas K. 1869-1948 (Lot 9). Estimated at $3,000 – $5,000. Candid portrait of Mahatma Gandhi gazing downwards (possibly weaving?) and taken by his grand-nephew, Kanu Gandhi (1917-1986). Kanu’s family lived on Gandhi’s ashram and Kanu was given his first camera in 1936. He was allowed to photograph Gandhi on condition that “Kanu was not to use flash, the ashram would not finance it, and Gandhi would never pose” (GandhiServe Foundation). / Right: Foujita, Tsuguharu, Illustrator, Joseph, Michael – A Book Of Cats. New York: Covici Friede, 1930 (Lot 65). Estimated at $20,000 – $30,000, sold for $25,000.Einstein, Albert – Autograph Note Signed (A. Einstein), in German (Lot 39). Estimated at $2,000 – $3,000, sold for $9,000. The difference between hammer price and high estimate was two times (200 percent) bigger than high estimate.Monk, Thelonious Sphere – Autograph musical manuscript signed (Thelonious M), Monk’s Mood, 1 Page, New York, c.1956-7 (Lot 144). Estimated at $6,000 – $8,000, sold for $16,000 – this lot has doubled its high estimate. Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, the 2nd most recorded composer after Duke Ellington (who composed hundreds more pieces than Monk), was largely self-taught although he did study for a time at the Juilliard School of Music. His distinctive style really emerged during his time as house pianist at Manhattan nightclub Minton’s Playhouse where he also participated in the after-hours jam sessions with musicians like Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Kenny Clarke, Charlie Christian and others and which were crucial to the birth of bebop. Monk’s first dates as a leader were recorded in 1947 for Blue Note Records. It was on November 21st of that year that he first recorded his composition “Monk’s Mood,” with Art Blakey on drums, Bob Paige on bass, George Taitt on trumpet and Sahib Shihab on alto sax. The introspective ballad blends hints of melancholy and nostalgia into its deceptively complex structure. It’s the kind of crafted piece that is less suitable as a spring board for improvisation which is likely why it was rarely recorded by Monk. He did revisit the piece in 1957 with John Coltrane on tenor sax and Wilbur Ware on bass. It was the only group recording on the otherwise solo piano release Thelonious Himself. Monk recorded the piece one last time in 1959 on Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall with a wonderful orchestral arrangement and enough room to fully explore the composition as it was the longest cut on the album clocking in at over 10-minutes. The above manuscript was likely written right about the time of the second recording when Monk had finally come to public prominence. According to the consignor, it was given to his grandparents, Monk’s neighbors Harriet and her husband saxophone player Harvey Levanthal during one of his visits to their apartment where he would congregate and jam in their back room with other musicians. According to the consignor, the manuscript was given back to Monk by Harriet a few days later so that he could sign it.

Bonhams - Voices of 20th Century Auction Analysis in Details

If you go through these two tables bellow, you will find the summary of the Voices of 20th Century auction that took place at Bonhams New York on Tuesday, June 16, as well as details on every lot that was put up for sale.

INDEX

RESULT

Total number of lots:

159

Number of sold lots:

83

Sold lots [%]:

52.2

Total [$]:

566,720

Number of sold lots over high estimate:

19

Over high estimate (Total) [%]:

11.9

Over high estimate (Sold) [%]:

22.9

Number of sold lots in range of estimated values:

25

In range of estimated values (Sold) [%]:

30.1

Number of sold lots under low estimate:

39

Under low estimate (Sold) [%]:

47

Results were under estimate spread of [%]:

32.5

Max Hammer [$]:

155,000

Average Hammer [$]:

6,828

Median Hammer [$]:

2,500

Median Hammer Average Hammer Difference [%]:

-63.4

Lot No.

Artist Name

Artwork Name

Low Estimate $

High Estimate $

Hammer Price $

Hammer High Estimate Difference [%]

Hammer Low Estimate Difference [%]

1

American Expeditionary Force In Siberia

Large archive of photographs, negatives and ephemera

3,000

5,000

3,200

-36

6.7

2

Carter White House

Official album of 37 White House Press color photographs of the Inauguration of President Jimmy Carter, January 20, 1977

800

1,200

Not Sold

Not Sold

Not Sold

3

Carter White House

Album of official color and black-and-white White House press photographs, clippings, invitations, Christmas cards and photocopies compiled during the Carter Administration, 1977-1980.

800

1,200

Not Sold

Not Sold

Not Sold

4

China

A group of 10 photographs, mostly portraits of Chinese military and political figures

1,500

2,500

2,500

0

66.7

5

Eichmann Trial

Adolf Eichmann. (Jerusalem): Police d'Israel, (1961)

8,000

12,000

7,000

-41.7

-12.5

6

Eisenhower, Dwight D., & Douglas Macarthur

Photograph Signed (Dwight D Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur)

12,000

18,000

Not Sold

Not Sold

Not Sold

7

Elizabeth Ii, Queen Of England

Photograph Signed (Elizabeth R) and dated 1959

4,000

6,000

4,000

-33.3

0

8

Elizabeth Ii, Queen Of England

Album containing 43 color and black-and-white White House Press photographs of the Arrival Ceremony for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at The White House, July 7, 1976

Autograph Letter Signed (Lee H. Oswald), 1 p, Dallas, TX, February or March, 1963, to Gus Hall, General Secretary of the Communist Part USA, and E(lizabeth) G(urley) Flynn, National Chairman of the Communist Party.